Leading Australian law firm Slater and Gordon has launched a shareholder class action against Star Entertainment Group, alleging the casino operator made misleading or deceptive representations about its compliance with regulatory obligations.
The class action is in response to revelations from a public hearing into Star currently taking place in New South Wales, home to the group’s flagship resort The Star Sydney.
The fallout of those public hearings, which have revealed failures around Star’s oversight of its junket partners and concerns around AML compliance, has already seen CEO Matt Bekier stand down with more heads expected to roll in the coming weeks.
Slater and Gordon said Tuesday that it has filed a class action with the Victorian Supreme Court in relation to investors who acquired shares between 29 March 2016 and 16 March 2022.
The 108-page claim alleges Star has continually held itself out as an ethical and responsible casino operator that complied with its legal and regulatory obligations, but that recent media reports to the contrary have seen Star’s share price decline by more than 25%, wiping more than AU$1 billion from the company’s value.
Those media reports, aired in October 2021, claimed that Star had cultivated high-roller players allegedly linked with criminal or foreign-influence operations and that the company failed to comply with its obligations under anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws.
The same reports ultimately led to the public hearings currently underway.
“For the last six years, Star has held itself out to be a model casino operator that took its obligations seriously and followed not only the letter of the law, but the spirit of the law,” said Slater and Gordon Class Actions Senior Associate Ben Zocco.
“Star insisted that it took compliance seriously and ran its business ethically, honestly and with integrity. Our investigations to date, in addition to the extraordinary evidence revealed so far in the Bell Inquiry, suggests that they did everything but.
“When investors purchase shares in a listed company, they are entitled to assume that all of the material information relevant to its financial position had been disclosed to the market.
“Our case is that Star failed to do so, and, therefore, investors are entitled to compensation for their losses.”
Star said in a Wednesday filing that it intends to defend the proceedings.
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